Scholarship Brings Joshua Bolin '12 to Albany Law

Scholarship Brings Joshua Bolin '12 to Albany Law

Joshua Bolin ’12 made the decision to attend Albany Law School after learning that he would be the recipient of The Class of 1980 Scholarship, which was established by members of the class in honor of their 30 th Reunion in 2010.

While Bolin had always planned on going to law school, he was at the time engaged as an admissions officer with his undergraduate institution, the University of California, Merced, and as a volunteer with a local political campaign.

“The scholarship made the difference,” said Bolin, who graduated from UC Merced with a degree in World Cultures and History. “I had been applying to law school for a few years before I felt the timing was right.”

In 2005, Bolin transferred to UC Merced from Sierra College in Rocklin, Calif., making him a member of the first class at the University of California’s 10 th campus.

“Being a brand new school, we all had an opportunity to make a significant and lasting impact,” said Bolin, who helped develop the students’ first constitution as a member of the university’s constitutional committee.

Two years later, upon graduation, he accepted a position with the institution’s admissions department, while being an active member in the Merced Rotary as its Director of Community Service.

While Bolin’s undergraduate studies have bolstered his long-standing interest in international law and politics, he has subsequently found himself also drawn to employment and estate law through his coursework at Albany Law. His interest in employment law is also due, in part, to growing up in a home where his mother, a third-grade teacher, was the president of her teachers’ union for the majority of her teaching career.

Since enrolling at Albany Law, Bolin has worked at the New York State Board of Elections with Bill McCann ’91, and he spent this past summer doing legal research for constitutional scholar and attorney Howard L. Hills, based in Laguna Beach, Calif. He is the American Bar Association’s student representative on campus, a voting member in the Student Bar Association Senate, and he was a 2L member for this year’s Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition.

“Participating as an understudy is excellent preparation for next year’s competition,” Bolin noted.